Typewriting machine



July 10, 1923.

J. H. BARR TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 5, 1921 INVENTUR MW WITNESSES 5 f%- T5 I5 ATTEIRNEY Pawnee! July 10, 1923.

mm H. BARR, on NEW YORK, 5N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO REMINGTON TYPEWRITER com- PANY, OF'ILION, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

TYPEWRITING MACHINE.

Application filed .E'ebruart 5, 1921. Serial No. 442,790.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. BARR, citizen, of the United States, and resident of the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Typewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to platen bearings for writing machines and its chief object is to provide new and improved bearings which enable the platen to be adjusted in any direction in a plane perpendicular to its axis.

To' the above and other ends which will hereinafter appear, my present invention consists in the features of construction, combinations of devices and arrangements of parts to be hereinafter described and .particularly pointed out in the claims.

My present invention affords universal adjustment of the printing face or point of the platen. This novel feature is particularly advantageous in machines in which .7 an anvil is associated with the type-bar ac tions, since in such constructions it is necessary that the face of the platen receiving the type impressions shall be located not only at the proper height but also in the proper plane relative to the plane of the jstriking face of the anvil so that the type may be caused to over -throw the right 1 amount, neither toomuch nor too' little, to

obtain the best printing results. In all cases, whether or not an anvil is employed, it is necessary in order to obtain the most satisfactory results that the platen should be so adjusted that the final position of its axis may be substantially parallel with the carriage rails or guiding elements along which the platen carrier or carriage travels, thus avoiding any forward, or backward, or up and down displacemen'tor derangement of the platen face at the printing point during the travel of the carriage.

These desirable results are obtained by the use of my present invention which will be more particularly described in connection with the wherein- Fig. '1 is a fragmentary end view, partly in section, of the platen and platen carrier of a typewriting machine embodying my invention, said view also showing the guide rails on which the platen carrier travels.

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan View, partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the dotted line 1-1 in Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows at said line.

'Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the dotted line 2-2 in Fig. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrows at said line.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the dotted line 33 in Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows at said line.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing part of the platen axle and its bearing. sleeve at the right of the platen.

In the present case the platen, 1, illustrated is a rotary front strike platen provided with axle or shaft sections 2 and 3 which project respectively beyond the lefthand and right-hand ends of the platen and are provided with twirlers or knobs 4. The left-hand axle section 2 may be secured by set screws 5 to a platen head 6 which in turn is suitably fixed to the left-hand end of the platen 1. The right-hand axle part 3 is preferably movable longitudinally, independently of the associate platen head 7 for purposes with which the present invention is not immediately concerned. The two parts or sections 2 and 3 together constitute a two-part axle or shaft.

Before describing in detail the platen bearing, to which my present invention more particularly relates, it may be said generally that the platen is mounted on a platen carrier or carriage which comprises end bars or plates 8 arranged in parallelism, transversely of and at opposite ends of the platen, said end bars projecting forward accompanying drawings,

' and said platen from an inclined cross bar or plate 9, the end bars 8 and the cross bar 9 being rigidly secured together and constituting in effect an integral frame, The top and bottom faces of the cross bar 9 are formed or provided with angular grooves or seats 10 which receive roller bearings 11, saidbearings co-operating with grooved guideways 12 and 13 which are stationary on the frame of the machine, the guideway or rail 12 being arranged behind or in rear of the platen in the present instance, and the guideway or rail 13 being below the platen. The guide rails should be parallel with each other and with the longitudinal axis of the platen. The carriage is adapted to be reclprocated or moved from side to side of the machine along the guideways 12 and 13 in any suitable manner, carrying with it the platen in order to provide for letter spacing the typewritten work. Also the platen is adapted to be turned or rotated on its axis to provide for line spacing by devices comprising a lin spacing ratchet wheel 14 connected to the right-hand end of the platen.

Instead of co-o erating directly with the two-part axle or p aten shaft my novel bearing devices preferably cooperate with loose collars or sleeves tively at the left-hand and right-hand ends of the platen, and surrounding said shaft, the shaft parts 2 and 3 passing through and being coaxial with said sleeves, the shaft or shaft parts and. the sleeves being relat vely movable, rotatively considered. That is to say, the two-part shaft may turn within'the sleeves, while the sleeves are also capable of rotation independently of the shaft. However, it is preferable that the sleeves may be held or prevented from movingunduly endwise, and this may be effected in any desired manner. For example, in the present instance, the left-hand sleeve 15 is shown elongated and is loosely confined-between the hub'of the platen head 6 and the hub 4 of the left-hand twirler 4, said sleeve bearing directly on the shaft section 2. On th other hand, thesleeve 16 at the right of the platen, which is shorterjthan the sleeve 15. is mounted on the outer hub portion 7 of the right-hand platen head 7 and abutsat the left against a hub portion 7 b of somewhat larger diameter. The whole platen head comprises the disk or flange portion 7 the hub portion? and the hub portion 7, head is perforated to afford a passage-way for the shaft section or part 3 which iscapable of independent longitudinal movement through'said platen. head to control as is usual the platen releasing device not herein shown. Thesleeve 16 is about of the same length as the hub portion 7 and in order to prevent endwise displacement the two parts may be constructed as shown most clearly in Fig. 6, which is a 15 and 16 arranged res'pec-- cally with the end bar rearview partly in section. As viewed in Fig. 6, the left-hand end of the sleeve 16 is beveled inwardly, and after it is placed on the hub portion 7 the end of the hub portion may be slightly spread orup-set as indicated at 17 so as to prevent outward displacement of the sleeve which is confined loosely on the hub portion 7, enabling the two parts to rotaterelatively to each other, but preventing the sleeve from being accidenitally displaced longitudinally. Although as has been described, one of the bearing devices or sleeves is in the present instance mounted directly on the associate shaft part, while the other sleeve is not so mounted but is mounted on an interposed part, namely, the hub 7, yet it will be understood of course that both sleeves may be mounted directly on their associat shafts or if desired may co-operate indirectly with said shafts through interposed elements or parts.

In the present instance, the novel threepoint bearing. devices co-operate with the sleeves 15 and 16 which can rock and avoid any crimp of the platen shaft in the sleeves if the shaft should be accidentally out of alignment. The bearing sleeve construction affords a snug but free bearing for the platen shaft regardless of the pressure on the sleeve from the three-point bearin and friction or scoring of the shaft by t e adjustable screws of the bearing and by the bolt, which might result if they directly engaged with the shaft, are avoided by the employment of the interposed element or sleeve. The novel bearing in the present instance is constituted at each end of the platen by two adjustable screw devices and a co-operating spring pressed bolt, the screw devices being arranged at right angles with each other, and the bolt being arranged to transmit its spring pressure through the sleeve substantially equally to both of the screw devices. The three-point bearings at both ehds of the platen are substantially of the same construction, each bearing comprising a vertiarranged screw device 18 contracting at its upper end with the bottom. of the. associated sleeve when the platen is in place in the machine, th lower end portion of said screw device being threaded as indicated at 19 to engage with a tapped opening in a lip or flange 8 extend'ng inward and integral on which the screw device 18 is mounted. The upper plain portion of the screw device passes through a lip 8 at the upper portion of the end bar 8, so that the screw device is supported near both its upper and lower ends on the end bar as clearly appears from Fig. 3. Passing transversely through the end bar below the lip is a locking device or set screw 20 which co-operates with the side of the screw device 18 to hold or lock it in adjusted position.

The other screw device constituting part of screw device 21, the bore comprising a forward portion 23 which is threaded or tapped threaded portion 22 of the screw 21. rear portion 24 of the bore is of less diameter 'dicated at29 formed in the end bar.

at its forward portion to co-operate with the The than the portion 23, being just large enough to permit the rear portion of the screw 21 to pass freely therethrough so that its rear end may contact with the associate sleeire. A locking device or set screw 25 is threaded laterally into the end bar and contacts with the rear portion of the screw device 21 to hold or look it in adjusted positions. The third point of the three-point hearing as constituted by a bolt or plunger 26 having a tapered head 27 and a shank 28 as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The bolt is angularly disposed behind the associate sleeve and is slidably mounted in a seat or depression ill-1kcoiled plunger spring 30 surrounds the shank .28 within the depression 29 and is confined between the under side of the bolt or plunger 26 and the bottom of the seat or depression 29. The spring tends constantly to urge the bolt or plunger outward from its seat but such movement is limited by a cross pin 31 carried by the shank 28 outside of or below the seat or depression 29. A cut-out 'or slot 32 in the end bar 8 affords play for the cross pin 31, the end of the slot providing a stop for the plunger. The tapered end 27 of the bolt or plunger co-operates with the upper rear side of the associate sleeve and is so related to-the ends of the supporting screws or abutments '18 and 21 that ittends constantly to maintain the sleeve engaged with them to prevent rattle or shake, this function being retained under. anyadjustment of the supporting screws found necessary in practice. The anglev of the tapered bolt head is also such that pressure on the platen shaft will not move the bolt and thus wholly or partially release the platen and.

permit it to shake. To retract the bolt it is necessary for the operator to press against it positively, such retraction being readily effected by the thumb to enable the platen and the parts movable or removable withit to be detached. In replacing the platen the bolts may be automatically moved or cammed backward by their associate sleeves to enable the platen to be re-engaged with its three-point bearings. In practice I have found the best results to be accomplished if the bolt is positioned at an angle of 62 deprovided with a type bar anvil.

grees, 25 minutes to the vertical, the taper the bolt is preferable it is of course to be understood that they may be varied as found desirable. It will be apparent that by adjustment of the vertical screw devices 18,-

the platen and its axis may be raised correspondingly, or that by adjusting the screw device 18 at one end of the platen that end of the platen maybe raised or lowered and its axis correspondingly raised or lowered at that end. Similarly, by adjustment of the horizontal screw devices 21, the platen may be adjusted backward or forward, or one of its-ends only may bev readjusted. It'will be observed that vertical adjustment of the platen mayfbe efi'ected separately or independently of the horizontal adjustment of the platen, and vice versa. ence or separability of the vertical and horizontal adjustment is advantageous in some cases since a correction or adjustment in one sense does not afi'ect or disturb the other. As a result of such adjustments of the screw devices 18, and 21, as have been indicated, the printing face of the platen may be correspondingly varied; or otherwise expressed, the printing point of the platen is capable of adjustment in any direction or universally in a plane perpendicular or at right angles to the axis of This independv the platen. The advantages of such capabilities of adjustment have been heretofore referred to, as thereby the printing face or line ofthe platen may be maintained in sub stantially exact parallelism with the guide devices or railsby which the longitudinal movements of the platen are-directed and controlled. Especially is the invention of advantage when employed with a machine Such an anvil is indicated in Fig. 1, being designated therein by the numeral 33. In said Fig. 1 is that the printing face may also be raised or lowered to bring about the desired results.

also illustrated one of the set of front strike In order to prevent looseness or endwise displacement of the platen in its earner or frame I have found it desirable to provide retaining or locating devices for positively locating the platen in a predetermined longitudinal relationship with its frame or support. Said devices are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 and comprise a locating blade or aligning piece 35 which is arranged be- 'low the platen axle at the left-hand side,

said blade being secured adjustably to the left-hand end bar 8 by headed screws 36.

which are threaded into a boss or inward projection S on the end bar. The upper portion of the blade fits in an annular groove or depression indicated at (3 cut or otherwise formed in the hub portion of the platen head 6 near its outer end. The upper edge of the blade 35 is curved or shaped so that ordinarily adjustments may be made .which may be desirable in some cases,

prevent substantial certain points of without disturbing the blade 85. However, to afford adjustability of the blade itsejlf, t e holes 37 in the blade through which the shanks of the screws 36 pass are preferably of considerably larger diameter than said shanks although somewhat less in diameter than the heads of the screws. It will be apparent that by loosening the screws the blade 35 may be raised or lowered to the limits of the holes 37 and may also be adjusted forward and backward. The sides of the blade co-operate with the side walls of the groove with suflicient closeness to longitudinal displacement of the platen, but the fit is not snug enough to generate friction during rotary turning movements of the platen.

It will be observed that by my present invention there is provided means for affording universal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to its axis, said means. in the present instance being mounted wholly comprising three-point bearings or supports arranged at opposite ends of the platen,

supports being adjustablv mounted onthe platen carrier and co-operating with sleeves surrounding the platen axle or shaft so as to afford adjustment of the sleeves both vertically and horizontally;

that by such means the platen may be adjusted so that its printing face may be brought into substantial parallelism with the carriage rails or guiding elements considered both horizontally and vertically and so that the printing point on the platen shall have a substantially unvaryingrelationship with the type bar anvil for all positions of the platen longitudinally considered.

Various changes may be made without departing from my invention. a

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen axle, a platen carrier, and means for affording union the platen carrier and each of said bearings or versal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis and relatively to said platen carrier. 2. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen axle, a platen carrier, and means effective on the platen axle for affording universal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis, said means being mounted wholly on said platen carrier and comprising three-point bearings arranged at opposite ends of the platen.

3.In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen axle, a platen carrier, means for affording universal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to the platen axis, said means comprising sleeves at opposite'ends of the platen and surrounding said platen axle, and adjustable bearing supports one for each sleeve, each support affording an adjustment of the associate sleeve in both a.

vertical and a horizontal direction.

4. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, means for adjusting the platen in a vertical direction relatively to said carrier, and

means for horizontally adjusting the platen-- said two means be-..

relatively to said carrier, 'ing operative independently of each other.

5. In a typewriting machine, the 'combi a platen carrier,-

nation of a rotary platen, and a plurality of three-point bearing devices mounted wholly on said platen carrier, one three-point device being disposed at each end of the platen, certain points of each three-point device being adjustable independently of the-other points of said device so as to afford adjustment of the platen in one direction relatively to the platen carrier without affecting the adjustment of the laten in another and different direction relatively to the platen carrier.

6. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen shaft, a platen carrier, guide rails, bearing sleeves for said shaft, and adjusting separate from said sleeves but contactive therewith, said means being adjustable. independently of said sleeves to vary the position of said sleeves and bring the printing face of the platen into substantial parallelism with said guide rails, said. means being mounted wholly on said platen carrier and said sleeves having an unvarying relationship to said platen carrier for all printing positions after adjustment. 7. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen shaft, a platen carrier, stationary guide rails, bearfing sleeves surrounding said shaft, and three-point supports, one for each of said sleeves, thethree points of each support being spaced apart and two of said points bethe third able.

ing independently adjustable to vary their normal relationship and change the normal position of the associate sleeve.

8. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen shaft, a platen carrier, stationary guide rails, bearing sleeves one directly engaging the platen shaft and one engaging one of the platen heads, and three-point supports, one for each of said'sleeves, the three points of each support being spaced apart and two of said points being independently adjustable to vary their normal relationship and change the normal position of the assoclate sleeve.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary-platen, a platen shaft, a platen carrier, stationary guide rails, bearing sleeves one directly engaging the platen shaft and one engaging one of the platen heads, and three-point supports-for said sleeves, two of the points of each three-point support being independently adjustable by hand to vary their normal relationship and the third point being automatically adjustable.

10. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen shaft, :1 platen carrier, guide rails, sleeves surrounding'said shaft, and three-point supports for said sleeves, one point of support being below the sleeve and another point of support co-operating With the sleeve at one side in the horizontal plane of its axis, the .two points last mentioned being adjustable independently of each other to aiford universal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to its axis.

'11. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, guide rails, sleeves providing bearings for the platen, and a three-point support for each of said sleeves, one of said points of support being below andanother -in front of the sleeve, said last two mentioned points being adjustable independently of each other by hand to vary their normal relationship,

point being automatically adjust- 12. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier,

guide rails-"bearing sleeves,'and supports.

for said sleeves, each support comprising two screws angularly disposed and a hand controlled bolt, said screws being relatively adjustable to afford universal adjustment of' the platen in a plane perpendiculor. to its axis.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, guide rails for said carrier, bearing sleeves, supports for said sleeves, eachsupport comprising two screws and a hand controlled bolt, and means for locking said screws in adjusted positions, said screws being relatively adjustable to afford universal adjustscrews arranged substantially at right angles to each other, and a device operating to maintain the sleeve in engagement with the ends of said screws.

15. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, .a platen carrier, stationary guide rails, bearing sleeves for the platen, supports for each of said sleeves, each support comprising two screws arranged substantially at right angles to each other, and a spring pressed device co-operating with the sleeve in such a way as to maintain it in spring pressed engagement with the ends of said screws.

16. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, and bearings for said platen comprising at each end of the platen a three-point support,

points, the adjustability of said points affording universal adjustment of the platen in a plane perpendicular to its axis.

In a typewriting machine,the combi- I nation of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, and bearings for said platen comprising at each end of the platen a three-point support, one of said points of support being be.-

'low and another point-of support being forward of the axis of the platen, all three points being relatively adjustable so as to vary the normal relationshipv and afiord a resetting of the printing face'of the platen to any desired position.

18. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier,

and bearingsfor said platen comprising three-point supports, one ateach end of the platen, one point of each support being below and another point being forward of the axis-of the platen, each support further comprising a spring pressed hand controlled device efi'ective to maintain the platen on its bearings.

19. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a rotary platen, a platen carrier, and bearings for said platen comprising two three-point supports, each three-point support comprising two adjustable screw abutments and a hand controlled bolt having a tapered head effective to maintain the platen on its bearings.

20. In a typewriting machine, the combi nation of a platen carrier, a rotary platen removably mounted thereon, bearings for said platen on said platen carrier, a grooved part removable with said platen, and a detachable locating piece secured to said carrier and co-operative with said grooved part, said detachable piece being independent of said bearings.

' 21. In a typewrlting machine, the combination of a platen carrier, a rotary platen removably mounted thereon, bearings for said platen on said platen carrier, a grooved part removable with said platen, and a locating blade adjustably secured to said carrier and engageable With the groove in said part to prevent endwise displacement of the platen, said detachable blade being independent of said bearings. O

Signed at the borough of Manhattan, city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 4th day of February, A. D. 1921.

JOHN H. BARR.

Witnesses:

CHARLES E. SMITH, E. M. WELLS.. 

